Parenting Project
by OutsidersSlashLover
Summary: Ponyboy Curtis is about to face the biggest challenge of his life... being a daddy. Can he handle the stress and responsibility of raising a baby, or will he be pushed to his breaking point?
1. Chapter 1

"Okay, okay, class, settle down now, settle down." The class of 25 students got back into their seats as the Child Development teacher and the principal walked in. The teacher was carrying a box of some sort, and a few students looked on in curiosity as it was set on the table.

"As you all may know, we have ended the Reproduction, Pregnancy, and Birth units." The class groaned as they remembered first the video of the man and woman "reproducing", and then the video of the woman going into labor. "Well, in this special unit, we are going to see what happens after all that trouble so that you guys will see that caring for a child isn't as easy as you may think. You may believe that your parents had it easy, but if you live in a home with older or younger siblings, you will soon find out exactly how hard it was looking after you, and your siblings, when you were just a baby."

The class groaned even more as they figured out what exactly was in the box as the teacher pulled out a baby. Some kids gasped, thinking that it was a real kid and that it was dead.

"Now, now, don't be alarmed. It's only a doll, but it sure does look real, doesn't it? These babies are made not only to look and feel lifelike, they're also programmed to act lifelike as well, meaning that they will wiggle around a bit, blink, cry, sleep, eat, and... some other stuff that you're going to find out soon enough."

One of the students, a girl who almost always sat in the back, raised her hand. "How long are we going to be keeping these babies, Mr. Adams?"

The teacher (AKA Mr. Adams) chuckled. "Well, I know it's a lengthy amount of time, but I will be having you guys keep your little bundles of joy for about 9 to 10 months, depending on how well you look after him or her... or them, if you get twins or triplets."

A few groans from the class chorused once again.

"Since we have enough babies to go around and an uneven amount of students in this hour, you will each get your own little boy or girl to take home and look after. You must also name your baby and give the name to me on a slip of paper by Friday or I will be choosing the name for you."

Mr. Adams then put the baby back in the box and got out his clipboard. "Annette Michaels, you're up first. Come pick your baby's gender."

The entire class went to pick their baby's sex, and it seemed like all of them got baby boys until the last name was called.

"Ponyboy Curtis." The 15-year-old boy in the purple tee-shirt set down his pencil and walked up to the basket, pulling out a white slip of paper with a pink stripe in the middle of it.

"Wonderful! You are the only student in the entire class who gets a baby girl." Mr. Adams announced gleefully.

Pony just stood there, wondering what to do, until the teacher handed him a carrier covered with a pink-and-white-striped blanket. The boy was then instructed to go back to his seat and wait for the babies to be activated. Once the last baby was turned on, the bell rang.

"Remember, kids, names by Friday or I pick for you!" The teacher called.


	2. Chapter 2

Ponyboy walked into his house with the carseat in hand. It was quiet, so he suspected that Sodapop and Darry were still at work, which was the way he liked it. He doesn't really favor a bunch of noise, which is why he sometimes stays in his room when the entire gang's over at the house. Now, with this project, he really can't have a ton of noise if he wants the baby to stay asleep during naps.

He sighed and sat down in Darry's armchair, grabbing the diaper bag and checking over it. Diapers, pacifiers, bottles, clothes, PJs, onesies... man, that's a ton of stuff for one little baby. He was about to unpack all the stuff and organize it when the baby started to wake up.

He uncovered the carseat and, sure enough, she was rubbing her little eyes. She blinked a couple of times before staring back at him. He smiled a little, and she cooed, reaching her arms out for him.

Luckily, Ponyboy knew how to hold a baby properly, as Darry had showed him when they had to babysit their 4-month-old cousin for an entire weekend. She was quite a handful, even when she couldn't crawl yet, and she had quite the pair of lungs on her. Their neighbors even called at night to complain about how loud her crying was. Needless to say, the babysitting went well.

He got her out of the carseat and held her close to him as she sucked on her tiny little fingers. He couldn't believe that he was responsible for such a small little being; even if she was only a doll, at that moment, she seemed... real.

Ponyboy couldn't help but grin as her little nose twitched, and she sneezed. It was most likely due to the dust that was on the chair. God, Darry had kept this thing ever since their parents died a few years prior. Hell, the least he could do was dust it off every once in a while.

He went into Soda's room and inspected it. Soda rarely ever slept in it anyways, so maybe he could use it as a nursery. He planned out exactly how he wanted it to look, what color he wanted it to be, and where he would put everything.

After jotting down some ideas, he got to work on it. He brought out Soda's old crib from the basement, an old rocking chair, and a small—but very heavy—dresser with four drawers. He then got a pink mattress from the attic, dusted it off, washed it, and let it dry out. Their parents must've thought either he, Darry or Soda was going to be a baby girl. Well, at least they were prepared for any gender that they would get.

Lastly, he went over to the next-door neighbors, who just so happened to be expecting a girl, and asked to borrow some pink and white paint. They happily obliged. After getting the paints, brushes and some newspaper, he went to work on the walls, using a stool to reach the top corners.

He then let the paint dry for a few hours. By that time, Darry had gotten home and was making dinner.

"Hey, Darry." Ponyboy greeted, out of breath from carrying so many heavy things like the crib and the dresser.

"'ey, little buddy. Whatcha been doin' today?"

"Well, I've been redecoratin' Soda's old room."

"Redecoratin'? Why?"

Ponyboy took this opportunity to surprise his oldest brother by going out to the living room and coming back into the kitchen with the baby...

...and surprised he was.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, did you kidnap her?!"

Ponyboy almost laughed out loud, but held it in well. "No. We're doing the Baby Unit in Child Development and this will teach us not to become parents 'til we're good and ready."

The baby gurgled and cooed as Darry grabbed her from his brother, inspecting her carefully. "So they let ya take home real babies? You gonna return 'er to her ma after this is done?"

"Darry, she ain't real."

Darry looked puzzled. "What?"

"She's just a doll. Apparently, technology has advanced quite quickly, so they act lifelike."

Darry nodded in understanding and placed her back in her daddy's arms. "Okay then. How long you gonna be keepin' her?"

"Nine to ten months."

Darry scoffed. "Jesus... seems like a long time, don't it?"

"Yea, but I'm sure I can handle it." Ponyboy responded. "We need to pick out names for 'em by the end o' the week or the teacher picks for us."

"Well, today's Monday, so you have 4 days to figure out a name for 'er. Me an' Sodapop an' the rest o' the gang can help you out with pickin' a name."

"Thanks, Dare."

((A/N: If you guys could suggest some names for me to choose from, that'd be great and super helpful!))


	3. Chapter 3

The gang helped out with the names, but the one that Pony picked out was "Emma Michelle", suggested by both Steve and Darry. He jotted the name down on a slip of paper, like instructed.

"Emma Michelle Curtis. It sounds good." Ponyboy said aloud to himself, staring at the paper. He then looked over at the baby, who was on his and Soda's bed playing with her little feet. "How do you like your new name?" He cooed, getting up on the bed and flopping down beside her. She looked over at him and babbled.

He grinned and picked her up, holding her closely as he carried her out to the kitchen.

"Hopefully the first night won't be so rough..."

"Yeah, but you know how to handle her, right?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, I do. If she cries, it's either cuz she's fussy, hungry, or needs a changin', right?"

"Right." Darry answered, strolling into the kitchen and getting out a chocolate cake from the fridge. "Alright, who wants some? I got a feelin' it's gonna go bad in a couple'a days, so might as well eat it today."

Ponyboy set Emma down in her little swing in the living room, turning it on and going back to the kitchen. "I'll take a piece or two."

"Me too." Soda answered.

By the time they were done clearing the kitchen, it was about 8:37 PM, and Pony had put Emma in her crib. He went to go lay down when he heard a slight whine, and he turned around only to see her wide awake.

"C'mon, please don't tell me ya wanna sleep with me the first night..."

She whined more and raised her arms up in a little 'pick me up' signal. He sighed in exhaustion and picked her back up into his arms.

"Fine, but only for tonight. Daddy didn't spend hours on this room just for you not to sleep in it." He grumbled tiredly, taking her to his room.

And with that, they both fell asleep.

Emma awoke in the middle of the night, waking Ponyboy up as well. He scooped her into his arms and walked out to her room, sitting in the rocking chair and attempting to rock her back to sleep. She still cried, however, so Pony got up out of the chair and went out to the kitchen, making her a bottle.

That seemed to work because she drank it pretty quickly.

Ponyboy burped her, and went back into the room, hoping she'd fall back to sleep... but nope, she was restless.

"Come on, go to sleep or else Daddy's gonna put ya back in the crib." He threatened groggily as Emma kicked her little feet against the back of his head, wanting him to play with her. She whined and whined and whined until, finally, Pony scooped her up and went back into her—technically Sodapop's—room, placing her in the crib.

Emma didn't want to sleep; she sat back up and grabbed the bars of the crib, making a face as if she was going to cry.

"I warned ya, Em. M'sorry, but you wouldn't go back to sleep." He started to walk towards the door.

The baby cried out for him and reached out her arms. Ponyboy turned back and sighed, out of pity more than anything else. Giving in one last time, he walked over and picked her back up, smoothing out her little hair.

"You really are a handful already, ain'tcha?" She cooed as if to say 'yeah, I am', and he couldn't help but laugh a bit and place a kiss on her forehead.

He carried her back to his and Soda's room, and they both fell asleep once again. This time, however, there were no more wake-up calls for the remainder of the evening.


End file.
